Self-illuminated case

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a flashlight (1) that may be seen in the dark, (2) which carries a universal mounting on one external wall, and (3) an internal switch adjacent the opposite wall which is elastic and which on pressing will close the switch. By mounting the flashlight above, for example, a keyhole, the flashlight can be seen, and when the outer wall is pressed, the keyhole is illuminated. Moreover, the light bulb within three or four seconds restores the phosphorescent band to luminosity, (reactivation chamber) because part of it is located in a regenerative phosphorescent chamber so that it performs not only the normal lighting function, but regenerates the phosphorescent material on the chamber walls as well. The phosphorescent material, a zinc sulphide or zinc-cadmium sulphide (harmless) has a persistence of glow of two to twelve hours.

States Patent [191 Stone SELF-ILLUMINATED CASE 22 Filed: Oct. 24, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 299,858

[52] US. Cl 240/2.25, 240/213, 240/106 [51] Int. Cl. F2lv 9/116 [58] Field of Search 240/225, 2 S, 2.13, 10.6, 240/1065 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,275,819 9/1966 Laurent 240/225 X 3,252,235 5/1966 Goessling et al..... 240/1065 X 2,837,630 6/1958 Shen 240/106 R 3,327,107 6/1967 Gey 240/1065 3,443,084 5/1969 Jammet 240/1065 2,702,862 2/1955 Finney 240/225 X 2,900,494 8/1959 Cheng 240/225 X [451 Mar. 12, 19m

[5 7] 7 ABSTRACT This invention relates to a flashlight 1) that may be seen in the dark, (2) which carries a universal mounting on one external wall, and (3) an internal switch adjacent the opposite wall which is elastic and which on pressing will close the switch. Bymounting the flashlight above, for example, a keyhole, the flashlight can be seen, and when the outer wall is pressed, the keyhole is illuminated. Moreover, the light bulb within three or four seconds restores the phosphorescent band to luminosity, (reactivation chamber) because part of it is located in a regenerative phosphorescent chamber so that it performs not only the normal lighting function, but regenerates the phosphorescent material on the chamber walls as well. The phosphorescent material, a zinc sulphide or zinc-cadmium sulphide (harmless) has a persistence of glow of two to twelve hours.

14 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures THE INVENTION AND ITS BACKGROUND Small purse lights are very old. Their greatest defect is that they get lost in the purse just as do other objects in the purse, and it may take a minute to find the flashlight so that it can be turned on and the search for the object wanted commenced. Applicant thought that it would be good to have a small light which could be seen in the purse or seen in the dark so that little or no time was lost in locating it. The flashlight disclosed hereinafter attains this end. It is true that it is most effective when the eyes are fully dilated, and hence it is not too helpful in an open purse exposed to sunlight. But the two bands, which are substantially white, at opposite ends of the flashlight are distinctive.

On a nightstand, the flashlight can be seen all night.

In designing the light, the applicant wished to take advantage of the regenerative properties of this phosphorescent material, which is obtainable on the market, and a feature of the invention is the provision of a regenerative or reactivation chamber immediately behind the flashlight reflector with means for introducing a portion of the light when the bulb is energized to regenerate the phosphorescent material. This is accomplished by placing the bottom of the bulb slightly below the plane of the reflector and utilizing a bulb having wire terminals with a glass base.

Another important object of the invention is to provide the flashlight with a universal mounting so that it can be permanently placed adjacent something that one wishes to see. Applicant attaches a pressuresensitive adhesive. By removing its protective strip, the flashlight may be mounted above a light switch or keyhole. It may be mounted on an automobile steering wheel in such a way that the driver can hold on to the wheel with his right hand, using his thumb to press the wall of the flashlight and raise his left hand so that his wristwatch can be quickly-read. It can be placed on a telephone receiver so that the receiver may be held and the thumb placed on the light and pressed so that the user can read the dial.

Another major feature of the invention is utilization of a case having at least one elastic wall and a switch actuateable by pressing the wall of the case.

Another feature is the use of a sleeve to carry the phosphorescent material, which sleeve is rolled from flat material. The phosphorescent material is difficult to apply uniformly unless it lies flat. The first embodiment of this invention shows the inside of the transparent or translucent case lined with phosphorescent material. It is extremely difficult to keep it uniform, whereas the second embodiment shows a split sleeve which was a sleeve of paper, etc., which was flat when the phosphorescent material was applied and remained flat until the phosphorescent material had dried. Or the phosphorescent material may be placed on the outside of the case, whereunless protected it will wear off. Or the phosphorescent material may be placed in the material of the case wall itself where it will provide the primary object of this invention. Doing this, however, results in a non-elastic case wall, and the switch mentioned above cannot be taken advantage of.

There are other features in the design, particularly the switch, and it is positioned on the side of the'case opposite to the universal mounting.

THE DRAWINGS Referring to the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of both embodiments of the flashlight preparatory to assembly;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal section on the long cross axis of an assembled first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a section taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a section taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a transverse section of the second embodiment of the invention without the sleeve;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the light bulg showing the ideal position of the filament of the bulb with respect to the reflecting surface;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the side of thecase opposite to the switch side and showing the mounting strip with the protective sheet partially removed;

FIG. 8 shows the front side of a flashlight positioned over a keyhole; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a modified core and switch wire.

Referring to FIG. 1, 10 is a core of any suitable, electrically non-conductive material. It has two oppositely outwardly directed, circular, concave channels 12 and 14 of a radius adapted to seat batteries 13 and 15, and upper and lower flat surfaces 16 and 18 lying in parallel planes. In the upper surface 16 is a transverse slot 20, dividing the surface 16 into two lands 22 and 24. Land 24 contains, longitudinally of its surface, a diagonal slot 26. The core contains a socket or seat 28 at the midpoint of one end. Into this seats the tip 30 of the glass base 32 of a bulb 34. The bulb 34 has leads 36 and 38 and a filament 40. The bulb has a lenz tip 41.

The case of the flashlight is numbered 42. It is transparent or translucent, and its wall is quite flexible. Printed on the exterior of the case is a band including the word Gloworm, 44, but in reverse. The strip between the lines 43 and 45 is opaque or dark in color but for the word Gloworm. The outer end of the case is closed by a seal 46 having a peripheral rim 48 and a central hole 49. This seal is a plastic plate with a lightreflective white surface. The over-all length of the case is as little as one and one-half inches. The seal is recessed about one-eighth of an inch.

The inside of the case 42 is coated with a phosphorescent material. This material contains no phosphorus, and is not dangerous to workers. Its light-emitting retention varies from 1 to 10 hours. It is regenerated by exposure to visiblelight for less than 10 seconds. This material may be placed on the outside of the case and if the case is transparent, the first feature will be present,- a phosphorescent band that is regenerated each time the flashlight is activated.

The switch wire 50 is pressed into the slot 26 and the left end 52 is bent at right angles to the base portion 54, and the switch point 56 is bent as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. The clearance between the tip 58 is a small fraction of an inch. The top of the wire 56 which is electrically conductive and elastic, engages the inside top of the case. A slight pressure on the outside of the case will contact the tip 58 with the can or wall 60 of the dry cell battery 15. This slight pressure is important where the flashlight is mounted on, sic, a wall. The user can see the flashlight, as explained later, but he must be able to flash it without too much pressure.

The batteries 13 and 15 are seated in the arcuate channels 12 and 14. The end 52 of the switch wire 50 is welded or otherwise attached to the positive terminal post 66 on its underside,- see FIG. 4. This is important because pressing the switch at 58, see FIG. 4, causes the torque on the wire to press the wire against the post 66 so that there is no pressure to break the connection between the wire and the post 66. If the wire is welded (or soldered) to the top side of the post 66, pressure on the tip 58 of the switch 50, see FIG. 4, tends to separate the leg 52 from the post 66, and after closing the switch many times, this may happen. The flashlight, which is a throw-away, is rendered useless.

The positioning of the switch arm 56 in the transverse slot 26 is important because it is substantially impossible to close it by exerting great finger pressure, the slot is too narrow for the thumb to penetrate. In earlier models, the spring flexible means could be bent so that the tip 58 was left in permanent contact with the can 60, i.e., the light would not go out. In the disclosed construction, the force of the finger on the can 60 is unable to give a new set to the wire between the the can 60 and the tip 58 because the length of the wire between 60 and the battery post 66 is sufficient to resist deformation by a finger which cannot press the switch wire below the plane of the lands 22 and 24,- the actual deformation being taken up between 60 and 66. The width of the slot is only one-eighth of an inch.

The wire leads 36 and 38 of bulb 34 are respectively welded to terminal post 66 of battery 13 and the can 60 of battery 15, see also FIG. 2. The batteries 13 and 15 are seated in the channels 12 and 14 of the core 10. The assembly is pushed into the case 42,- the bulb entering the hole 49 until its outer end is in the plane 72 of the outer end of the case 42. The position of the filament 40 with respect to te general plane of the seal 46 is important (in the commercial embodiment the seal is slightly convex).

As shown in FIG. 2, the space between the batteries and core on the one side and the bulb 34 and seal 46 on the other, which is the reflector, form with the case the phosphorescent regenerative chamber. The case 42 is transparent. In order to regenerate the phosphorescent material each time the flashlight is actuated, the light of the bulb 34 must strike the wall band between the arrows 76 and 78, see FIG. 2. This could be done by positioning a separate bulb in the chamber with a second bulb to flash the light. Applicant however accomplishes the desired result, external light and regenerative light,- by positioning the lamp bulb so that most of its filament is external to the reflector 46 but a small part of it is on the inside of the reflector 46, that is, inside the phosphorescent chamber. The filament gives a small percentage of its light to the phosphorescent chamber 80 and its phosphorescent band, but most of its light to the outside, including the white reflective surface of the seal 46. The above-described relationship is idea]. In practice, the flashlight works almost as well if the filament is entirely on the outside of the seal 46 or entirely on the inside. This seems to be due to the glass stem of the bulb conducting some light from the filament into the regenerative chamber.

The flashlight is completed by pressing the cap 82 over the open end of the case 42 and fastening either by an adhesive or by melding with heat edges of the cap to the case. The flashlight as described, embodiment l, is shown in cross section in FIG. 5.

The flashlight is a throw-away. If used as intended, i.e., to flash on a clock or keyhole, 2 or 3 seconds, it will last for the shelf life of the batteries, 1 to 2 years.

Two features of the invention have been described. Another feature is a universal mounting on th at side of the case opposite to the switch. Referring to FIGS. 4 and 7, the numeral 82 identifies a compliant strip of material such as rubber, one side of which is affixed to the case 42. The other side 84 carries a pressuresensitive adhesive 86 covered by a protective strip of paper 88. The user may peel off the strip 88, as at 90 in FIG. 7, thereby exposing the pressure-sensitive adhesive. The flashlight may then be affixed to a wall above a keyhole or a switch, see FIG. 8, or on an automobile steering wheel, telephone receiver, inside wall of some ladys purse, etc.

The second embodiment of the invention is identical to the first embodiment excepting that a sleeve 92 is inserted over the completed flashlight chassis and then the whole chassis is inserted in the case, see FIGS. 1, 2 and 5. The sleeve 92 is transparent or translucent, but coated on the outside with the phosphorescent material. The light chamber functions as in the first embodiment. The sleeve is of value on orders of less than 50,000, the minimum order for the cases 42 carrying the printing. The printing is done on large sheets and these sheets are easily coated with the phosphorescent material. The individual sleeves are then cut out and rolled so that two opposite edges abut each other, as shown in FIG. 1. With a slight increase in cost to the purchaser, orders for as few of are profitable.

In FIG. 9, applicant shows an alternative core and switch. The core 10 is identical with the core 10 but there is just one slot in it. The slot extends from the midpoint 94 of diagonally toward the shell 96. Its depth varies from the end 94 from about twice the thickness of the wire at 98 to emerging at 100 in the top of the slot. The slope is such and the length of the wire is such that it engages the inside top of the sleeve 42. The only bend is the leg 52. It has been discovered that this construction is as free from abuse as is the construction shown in FIG. 1. Importantly, it is much easier to make, there being only one bend in it, and very easy to assemble.

The reactivatable phosphorescent material is a zinc sulphide or zinc-cadmium sulphide, and they are chemically stable, insoluble materials. The phosphorescent afterglow lasts from 30 minutes to 10-12 hours or more, depending on the pigment. They are available in the United States on the open market.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A self-illuminated case formed of walls, comprising a substantial portion of one wall being translucent, a regenerative chamber adjacent said wall and within the case, a source of light in said chamber, means for intermittently energizing the source of light, and a reactivatable, translucent, phosphorescent film positioned adjacent the translucent wall.

2. The self-illuminated case of claim 1 wherein the film is positioned between the translucent wall and the source of light.

3. The case of claim 1 wherein the phosphorescent film is a translucent sleeve.

4. The case of claim 1 wherein the phosphorescent film is a translucent sleeve having outside surface characteristics capable of receiving printed indicia.

5. The case of claim 1 wherein the case has two ends connected by outer walls generated by a constant cross section and the phosphorescent film is a flexible flat translucent plate folded into a split sleeve and nestable in the outer walls.

6. An electric flashlight comprising a case, an outwardly directed light reflector mounted on said case, a phosphorescent regenerative chamber behind the reflector an outer wall of the chamber being a substantial part of the case walls and being translucent, a hole in the reflector, a light bulb so mounted in said hole as to emit light externally of the case and internally into the phosphorescent regenerative chamber, means including an electric circuit and switch in said case for energizing said light bulb, and regenerative phosphorescent material adjacent the transparent walls of the chamber.

7. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the light bulb and stem are glass with wire leads and the stern extends into the phosphorescent reactivation chamber 8. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the phosphorescent material is on the inside wall of the regenerative chamber.

9. The electric flashlight of' claim 6 wherein the phosphorescent material is on the outside wall of the regenerative chamber.

10. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the phosphorescent material is on a translucent sleeve adjacent to the translucent walls of the regenerative chamber.

11. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein readable indicia is placed adjacent the transparent or translucent walls of the regenerative chamber.

12. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the side walls of the case are elastic and the switch has an arm engageable with an inside wall and actuatable by pressing the case wall inwardly.

13. An electric flashlight comprising a case having two opposite side walls, one of elastic material, a complete flashlight including energizing bulb, circuit, switch and energizing means within said case, said switch being mounted internally of the flexible wall, and universal mounting means mounted on the exterior of the opposite wall.

14. The electric flashlight of claim 13 wherein the universal mounting means is a removable stripcovered, pressure-sensitive adhesive. 

1. A self-illuminated case formed of walls, comprising a substantial portion of one wall being translucent, a regenerative chamber adjacent said wall and within the case, a source of light in said chamber, means for intermittently energizing the source of light, and a reactivatable, translucent, phosphorescent film positioned adjacent the translucent wall.
 2. The self-illuminated case of claim 1 wherein the film is positioned between the translucent wall and the source of light.
 3. The case of claim 1 wherein the phosphorescent film is a translucent sleeve.
 4. The case of claim 1 wherein the phosphorescent film is a translucent sleeve having outside surface characteristics capable of receiving printed indicia.
 5. The case of claim 1 wherein the case has two ends connected by outer walls generated by a constant cross section and the phosphorescent film is a flexible flat translucent plate folded into a split sleeve and nestable in the outer walls.
 6. An electric flashlight comprising a case, an outwardly directed light reflector mounted on said case, a phosphorescent regenerative chamber behind the reflector an outer wall of the chamber being a substantial part of the case walls and being translucent, a hole in the reflectOr, a light bulb so mounted in said hole as to emit light externally of the case and internally into the phosphorescent regenerative chamber, means including an electric circuit and switch in said case for energizing said light bulb, and regenerative phosphorescent material adjacent the transparent walls of the chamber.
 7. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the light bulb and stem are glass with wire leads and the stem extends into the phosphorescent reactivation chamber
 8. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the phosphorescent material is on the inside wall of the regenerative chamber.
 9. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the phosphorescent material is on the outside wall of the regenerative chamber.
 10. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the phosphorescent material is on a translucent sleeve adjacent to the translucent walls of the regenerative chamber.
 11. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein readable indicia is placed adjacent the transparent or translucent walls of the regenerative chamber.
 12. The electric flashlight of claim 6 wherein the side walls of the case are elastic and the switch has an arm engageable with an inside wall and actuatable by pressing the case wall inwardly.
 13. An electric flashlight comprising a case having two opposite side walls, one of elastic material, a complete flashlight including energizing bulb, circuit, switch and energizing means within said case, said switch being mounted internally of the flexible wall, and universal mounting means mounted on the exterior of the opposite wall.
 14. The electric flashlight of claim 13 wherein the universal mounting means is a removable strip-covered, pressure-sensitive adhesive. 